Thursday, January 16, 2014

YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: on race, rape and beer.

Posted
on Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 9:55 AM

LEGISLATIVE BLACK CAUCUS DECIDES IT’S BASICALLY FRUITLESS TO MEET WITH GOV. RICK SCOTT, ESPECIALLY AROUND MLK DAY. LEGISLATIVE BLACK CAUCUS IS CORRECT: "‘We believe you can and should do more

(to) reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of Florida," the caucus chairman, Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee, said in a letter hand-delivered to Scott. ‘We believe you can and should do more

(to) reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of Florida,’ the caucus chairman, Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee, said in a letter hand-delivered to Scott. Some black lawmakers remain upset with Scott for vetoing items in this year's budget. Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach, cited Scott's veto of $500,000 for a Holocaust education center in Broward County. Scott has vetoed that project twice, saying it bypassed an established competitive review process. The governor said through a spokeswoman that he was ‘disappointed’ that the meeting had been canceled and offered to meet one-on-one with lawmakers. None showed up, Scott's office said.” (via Tampa Bay Times)

THEY TOOK YOUR LIFE, THEY COULD NOT TAKE YOUR PRIDE:

[youtube LHcP4MWABGY]

OH, SO THIS IS WHY MARCO RUBIO LOVES LG LOPEZ-CANTERA SO MUCH! THEY BOTH HATE THEMSELVES: "‘Rather than stand against Rick Scott's thinly veiled racial profiling, Lopez-Cantera supported Scott’s anti-immigrant agenda,’ Florida Democratic Party Chair Allison Tant said today. ‘For three years, Hispanics have seen Rick Scott cut funding to the programs important to their communities, repeatedly threaten their right to vote, and advocate for discriminatory immigration laws. In November, Florida’s Hispanic families will hold him accountable.’ As the Florida Democrats note in their press release, HB 7089 was opposed by two Miami Republicans, and GOP state Senator René García and Florida Hispanic Legislative Caucus Chair, said it would ‘lead to distrust’ and ‘animosity’. Among the more controversial provisions in that bill was that it allowed for warrantless arrest when a law enforcement officer has ‘probable cause ‘ to believe that a person was unlawfully in the country.” (via Creative Loafing Tampa)

NOW YOU DON’T JUST HAVE TO FEAR FOR YOUR LIFE AND DIGNITY IN DARK ALLEYS – A VIRGINIA REPUBLICAN WANTS SPOUSAL RAPE IN YOUR BED TO BE LEGAL. AWESOME: “The rabidly conservative Republican was one of the state delegates who argued against criminalizing spousal rape in 2002, asking his fellow assemblymen, ‘How on earth you could validly get a conviction of a husband-wife rape when they’re living together, sleeping in the same bed, she’s in a nightie, and so forth, there’s no injury, there’s no separation or anything.’ Not everyone agreed with Black’s logic that wearing a nightie is an invitation for non-consensual sex (legislation exempting spousal rape from being prosecuted was repealed). Marital rape has been illegal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia since 1993, according to RAINN, America’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. The crime remains a serious issue (a third of all domestic violence cases involve spousal rape), but often goes unpunished because, like all rape cases, it can be difficult to prove. ‘When there’s not a third party witness or no external reference it becomes his word against hers,’ said RAINN president and founder Scott Berkowitz. ‘So it’s sometimes very challenging for prosecutors to win a conviction.’" (via Daily Beast)

IN NON-GAY GROWL(E)R NEWS, BEER! IT’S WHAT’S FOR TASTING: “The Senate Regulated Industries Committee advanced a bill (SB 470), which repeals a state ban on beer tastings and permits licensed beer distributors and retailers to conduct beer tastings much like they can now with wine tastings. ‘It doesn’t make sense to me you can have wine tastings and not beer tastings,” said Sen. Nancy Detert, the Venice Republican sponsoring the bill. ‘Craft beer seems to be a growth industry in Florida.’ But beer lobbyists pounced on the beer, prompting Detert to call it a ‘beer fight’ over which types of establishments could offer beer tastings. The state's beer wholesaler association testified they wanted manufacturers and their employees to also have the right.” (via Orlando Sentinel)